Muhammad Ali’s gloves sell for $956,000

On the 50th anniversary of their controversial second fight, the gloves worn by Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston packed even more punch and the result was the same — a knockout.

They sold for $956,000 during a Heritage Auctions sale in New York on Saturday night.

The buyer chose to remain anonymous, whole the gloves were consigned by Seth Ersoff, a Los Angeles-based collector who bought them from the family of the boxing commissioner who handled the famed fight.

“These gloves are among the most important pieces of memorabilia to ever come to market,” said Chris Ivy, Heritage’s Director of Sports Auctions, in a prepared release. “Transcending sports, the drama and outrage that swirled around the Ali-Liston fights were a microcosm of America’s growing pains of the mid-1960s.”

The bout was a brief one — Liston went down in the first round with many believing it was due to a “phantom punch” from Ali. It was Ali’s first fight since he had changed his name from Cassius Clay and it also was his first defense of the world heavyweight title, which he won from Liston in six rounds the previous year.

The high-profile auction was one of several recent sales — you can see more of them in the upcoming Auction Issue of Beckett Sports Card Monthly.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball and Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.